The Daily Slasher ☠

Fiction Portal Intergalactic Summit
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…It’s sometimes good to be a member of Native Fishfood with sec status above 0, because, unlike some other people I know, I can freely undock from Jita 4-4 without a bunch of scurvy, one-eyed, remote sensor boosted Lokis and Tornadoes all instalocking my poor frigate and saying “YARRRR.” :wink: Not that I object to being exploded; I just don’t like premature explosions when the real fun hasn’t even started yet!

So, explosions. I was really bored, had a couple shots of whatever was in the station bar, and remembered the rookie advice by some guy whose name eludes me. This guy said to the new pilots: just fit 20 cheap frigates and lose them while trying to have fun. That’ll teach you more than any baseliner academy ever would.

So here comes the Daily Slasher self-challenge. I’ll fit a lot of throwaway Slashers and set out to lose them all on the quest for chaos, mayhem, casual murder, piracy and other fun things, to poke New Eden with a Slasher until it explodes! Only two rules:

  • Low or Null sec is preferred.
  • No CONCORD or sentries on the mail; If I wanted more of that I’d fit Thrashers :wink:

And then I’ll put an AAR of another horrible slasher death here. Dunno about the killmail, since that is frowned upon, but those really curious can do a search on zkill if they really want to.

So, the Daily Slasher!

[Slasher, Daily Slasher]
Counterbalanced Compact Gyrostabilizer
Damage Control I

1MN Y-S8 Compact Afterburner
Fleeting Compact Stasis Webifier
Initiated Compact Warp Scrambler
Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender

Auto Targeting System I
150mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I,Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
150mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I,Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
150mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I,Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S

Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I

(And a fresh Headhunter paintjob)

Ready! Set! Go!

Edit: Daily Slashers so far:

  • The Daily Slasher #01 | 6-24 - 1v1 with an Incursus in Heydieles
  • The Daily Slasher #02 | 6-25 - Blapped by the incursion rats in Tama
  • The Daily Slasher #03 | 6-26 - Caught by a Sabre in F-NXLQ (Querious)
  • The Daily Slasher #04 | 6-27 - 1v1 with a Tristan in Abune
  • The Daily Slasher #05 - day 1 | 6-28 - Survived with 2 kill assists and 20m in loot
  • The Daily Slasher #05 - day 2 | 6-29 - Survived with 1 cyno corvette kill
  • The Daily Slasher #05 - day 3 | 6-30 - Dispelled by a Magus in Lamaa
  • The Daily Slasher #06 | 7-03 - Pulled down by Hole Control in J124830
  • The Daily Slasher #07 | 7-06 - Сrushed in a random dogpile in Pynekastoh
  • The Daily Slasher #08 | 7-20 - 1v1 with @Jev_North (Merlin) in Jita
  • The Daily Slasher #09 | 7-21 - Pipebombed by Goons in 6Q-R50 (Delve)
  • The Daily Slasher #10 | 8-03 - Got some instaknowledge in Tisot (Aridia)
  • The Daily Slasher #11 | 8-17 - 1v1 with @Coulter_Phelps (Kestrel) in Huola
  • The Daily Slasher #12 | 8-18 - 1v1 with @Diana_Kim (Merlin) in Ikoskio
  • The Daily Slasher #13 | 8-24 - 1v1 with @Anyanka_Funk (Magnate) in I3Q-II (Delve) - Won
    - Sacrificed to the Red God by Funk (Gila) during the second encounter in the same system
  • The Daily Slasher #14 | 8-25 - 1v1 with @Maria_Daphiti (Tormentor) in Sifilar
  • The Daily Slasher #15 | 8-28 - 1v1 with @Avio_Yaken (Kestrel) in Murethand
  • The Daily Slasher #16 | 9-02 - 1v1 with @Isha_Vuld (Rifter) in Kamela - Won
    - Lost to own idiocy and station guns in the same system ten minutes later
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The Daily Slasher #01 | 6-24

I finished fitting the slashers, had one more shot of whisky and set out from Jita and straight to Rancer. Guess what? Rancer was empty except two wrecks on the gate! Not a single pirate in space in system, whoever was there sat in their citadels. The entire Rancer pipeline was empty. Said hi to my birthplace in the Thelan system from orbit and turned back.

Okayy… Next waypoint - Tama. Then - Old Man Star. And - Amamake.

Tama was quiet, though there were wrecks and corpses on the gate, and someone happily blinked with red skulls in local. I bounced a bit about the gates and the stations, moused around a cloaky Mastodon who somehow crawled away (I’d not agress him anyway under the gate guns) and headed down the pipe to Villore. There certainly was some life, but everyone was either docked or instawarping away in ceptors, pods and shuttles.

Finally, in Heydieles on the Old Man Star gate I encountered a suspect Incursus who most kindly allowed me to tackle him! Props to that fine Civire gentleman of Caldari provisions, because it was an actual, honest 1v1. With a predictable result, of course.

Later I examined the Incursus lossmail of my opponent (he eventually lost it to some Tristan in Kedama) and found out that it was both armor and hull tanked (with ancillary armor rep, damage control and hull rigs).

Moreover, I looked at one of his recent victims, a militia Atron, and also saw hull rigs!

Interesting. So hull tanking is all the rage in the warzone now? Should I hull tank my Slashers?

The first Daily Slasher - and I’m already learning new things! Hehe.

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Mixed active Armour/passive Hull tanks are common on Gallente frigates, because they often have a superstructure that is naturally tougher than their armour plating. By treating the armour as “ablative”, and making use of the impressive repairing abilities of the Ancillary Reps to increase that effect, they can massively increase the amount of time it takes their structure to be whittled away.

This is less effective, although not impossible, on the Frigates of other races. If you would like to try something similar on a Slasher, allow me to suggest something like this:

[Slasher, Solo]

Damage Control II
Small Ancillary Armor Repairer, Nanite Repair Paste

1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner
Faint Epsilon Scoped Warp Scrambler
Fleeting Compact Stasis Webifier
Balmer Series Compact Tracking Disruptor I, Tracking Speed Disruption Script

Small Knave Scoped Energy Nosferatu
200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion S
200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion S
200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion S

Small Transverse Bulkhead II
Small Projectile Burst Aerator I
Small Projectile Ambit Extension I

This fit gives you several options, you can scram kite with an optimal range script and barrage at 7km, or get in close and personal with short range ammo and a tracking disruption script. If you can’t use t2 guns, I highly suggest the 2nd option, as the first doesn’t work nearly as well without barrage.

Good luck!

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Another fun thing (albeit somewhat predictable and useless against missile and drone boats) can be a Tracking Disruptor on a Slasher. It’s not exactly a godly modification, but in the right situation it allows a meager little Slasher to tickle quite a bit higher than its weight class.

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Check my post above you.

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Hrm, didn’t load on first page load for some reason. That looks perfectly suitable for the task, yes.

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Oooh. This is an interesting project! Good hunting, eh? Looking forward to updates and lessons!

I do have a question: if you were to do this with a similar Caldari frigate, what would you try it with?

Also: I noticed you hit all the old sights, and it took some time to find a lone frigate. As the warzone really the only place to prowl if I were to undertake a similar project?

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The hull rigs also have no speed loss

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I would personally go with a rocket kestrel. They are such fun little ships.

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I am a fan of anyone deciding to lose some ships in the pursuit of getting better at what we Capsuleers are so blessed to be talented at. I wont suggest any changes to your plan, as half the fun you have with this experience will be the changes you decide on.

Fly Deadly, Jade Blackwind

If you make it to 20 losses I will buy your next 20 losses.

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The Daily Slasher #02 | 6-25

This one was a bit of a derp. I got into Tama; there was a Sansha Vanguard incursion and the local pirates were out in force this time. However, I got through and landed at Kedama gate, which was empty save for a few Sansha ships camping the gate and a sizable (and partially unlooted!) wreck field from a recent battle.

Overcome with sudden pangs of greed, I began to warp back and forth and scavenge all the T2 modules and drones from the bookmarked wrecks. This is naturally where it went wrong, because I severely underestimated the tackling abilities and firepower of the incursion rats. My luck lasted only for so long: at fourth or so wreck or so I was pointed, webbed and two-volleyed by the Sansha. So endeth the second Daily Slasher. Greed kills!

More, while getting away from all the fun people, I also managed to lose a Reaper to a sensor boosted Gnosis and then a pod to a very helpful smartbombing Proteus who sent me back to Jita.

…I’ve decided to adopt Kala’s fit for my next Slasher (replacing the T2 stuff with meta 3, because the Daily Slasher is to be a “I regret nothing” fit with no modules worth over 400k ISK on it.)

I agree with Tyrel, it’d probably be a Kestrel, though it’s be more close to a Daily Breacher then. …Or a blaster Merlin?

I hit the warzone because I was in militia for a while so I know the place. Of course, it has changed, and all the old denizens had moved on long ago, but I still remember the general layout of the region.

Later I’ll go into 0.0, etc., but I honestly don’t expect to make it past the first bubblecamp, and the fish there is way above my size. At best I can hope to catch a cyno corvette or two, but that’s it, and with citadels everywhere now I think even that is unlikely. So it’d be just pointless derping around until I land into someone’s bubble.

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Head into Querious by way of Efa. The Querious Fight Club is mostly smaller entities who are there largely to get their feet wet and sharpen their teeth. You can probably find some solo/small gang types to mess around with.

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I will look forward to reading about your experiences, not least because I have being doing a similar ‘self-improvement’ exercise over the last six months in the same war zone. Now I wish I had had the self-discipline to document what has been quite a journey.

I appreciate that part of the challenge is flying solo but do let me know if you ever feel like having a wing person (or an opponent). I am most often in or near Pegeler.

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The Daily Slasher #03 | 6-26

Today I combined the ideas of Kala and Arrendis and headed to Querious through Efa in Khanid. This Daily Slasher was fit as:

[Slasher, Angel's Advice]
Damage Control I
Small Ancillary Armor Repairer,Nanite Repair Paste

1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner
Faint Epsilon Scoped Warp Scrambler
X5 Enduring Stasis Webifier
Balmer Series Compact Tracking Disruptor I,Tracking Speed Disruption Script

Small Knave Scoped Energy Nosferatu
200mm Light Prototype Automatic Cannon,Republic Fleet Fusion S
200mm Light Prototype Automatic Cannon,Republic Fleet Fusion S
200mm Light Prototype Automatic Cannon,Republic Fleet Fusion S

Small Projectile Ambit Extension I
Small Projectile Burst Aerator I
Small Transverse Bulkhead I

Passing through the Empire reminded me that I’m sorta KOS there now. Well, screw the Empire. The only reason to go there is to gank something on Amarr - Niarja route anyway.

Efa was quiet and the nullsec entry system had three people in it - a flycatcher asleep in the POS force field, a Proteus trying to catch the outgoing traffic with a bubble some 100 km past the gate and the third prson somewhere else. Just as I was leaving to head deeper into Querious, a hapless Outaws. Incursus cross-jumped me and warped right towards the Proteus’ trap. I later found this guy’s loss at the Efa gate - looks like it was that one chance of “honorable” 1v1 this evening that I missed.

Anyway, the Incursus zoomed away to his doom and I started to derp around in nullsec. The locals were mostly apathetic, sitting in their citadels, and there was a lot of those off the overview. There was a comatose Crow tethered to a Fortizar whom I tried to bump out of tether; I plinked at someone’s customs office, at some offline tower and headed deeper. Some systems were completely empty, a pity one can’t really rat in a Slasher. I found the old outposts, now classified as Amarr citadels and hidden from overview, docking restricted; I found a huge Goon freeport - the Vaporware Station - that looked actually open to neutrals (there was nobody in the system) and was tempted to call it a night there, but decided to go to the far end of the region to see who’s there.

The systems closer to Efa were held by some no-name alliances one system per alliance, likely renters, one was Goon sovereighty, but deeper into Querious I entered the land of Initiative. and that’s where some active locals started to appear. Finally, I jumped into what looked like a some kind of minor hub or a staging system and right into a Sabre guarding the gate.

So ended the third Daily Slasher.

What do I think? If someone Black Frogs say, 10 pre-fit trollceptors, 3-4 bombers and a couple of cloaky T3s into that Goon Freeport right in the middle of Querious and sets up a base of operations there, both the renters and that person would have a source of almost endless fun! Until the Goons close docking right to neutrals, of course.

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Sounds about right. Back when I mapped Querious and Delve for myself, setting up tacs on every gate and structure, and so on, there was a very odd lack of interest in a potential fight. Contrast that to doing the same where Init held sway. That was actually fun, setting up tacs on every gate and structure while being very doggedly chased by relentless and good hunters.

It’s such a pity those are few and far between in the Outer Regions.

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While I think the goal of this exercise is to find your own content. Next time you find yourself in Placid or Black Rise I will give you a 1v1 in something suitable for a honorable fight. This really is interesting to read about to the point where I am considering doing a similar thing. I have done a few 20 frigate challenges but I have never chronicled it like this.

Don’t get discouraged by overpowered losses.

Fly Deadly!

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We won’t. It’s freeported for exactly that reason: shipping. There should be a market hub in there, too.

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The Daily Slasher #04 | 6-27

This was farly straightforward. I set destination to Lisbaetanne (probably to meet the dread pirate AshenShugar01, or one of the endless stream of his rookie victims). The path put me through the warzone up to Old Man Star again.

This time the Tama - Old Man Star pipe was bustling with activity. There were small fleets and militia frigate gangs warping around and camping gates and the Nourvukaiken gate in Tama had literally a cloud of corpses around it. I passed a large Hecate fleet that would surely have vaporized me if I were their WT or an outlaw.

In Heydieles, a suspect Tristan warped on me, I followed it to Abune and engaged on decloak. The pilot was an eternal FNA cadet, you usually know the type; but turned out to be an actually good FNA cadet who took his lessons seriously and knew well how to fit his ship!

As you might guess, a flight of five T2 Hobgoblins made short work of the Daily Slasher. As I egged back to Jita, I had the dubious pleasure to see the brave cadet torn apart by a gang of Los Violentos. His Tristan outlived my Slasher by some eight minutes.

Well, that’s lowsec for you: one second you eat the smaller fish and the next second a bigger fish swallows you whole. And you are out of nanite paste.

Would Kala’s fit make any difference in this fight? Probably not: the Tristan also had an ancillary rep and DC, but with two hull rigs and twice more firepower if we consider the drones supported by a T2 damage augmentor.

So why I even engaged it in the first place?

Because this is madness - and the Daily Slasher!

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If the chances are 80/20 in your favor, you engage because it’s a likely win. If the chances are 20/80 against you, you still engage because it’s a damn fine win if you do pull it off.

That said, yes, a TD Slasher against a droneboat isn’t the best match-up exactly, but I applaud the willingness to take the fight nonetheless. There’s always that slight chance that your opponent is a dunce, or that your luck or skill will negate the disadvantage.

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Oh, don’t ruin the fun. As a rule of thumb, you want to be taking every fight.

Keep up the journey, I think we’re all interested in how this turns out.

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